Multi-Million Contract For Ames' PowerFilm Solar Announced by Defense Department Officials Tuesday

PowerFilm Solar, on the outskirts of West Ames, is where about 100 employees supervise an assortment of custom made machines that roll out thin sheets of flexible solar panels and affix them to tent-like canopies and a range of materials --- some that fold up to the size of a small wallet.

PowerFilm officials said they have already begun increasing the numbers of employees at their solar film manufacturing site thanks to a $5.2 million Department of Defense contract that Sharon E. Burke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans & Programs, announced during a tour of the facility Tuesday.

Burke viewed PowerFilm's thin flexible solar panel applications in action during training missions in Fort Bliss and wanted to see how they were made bringing her to Ames.

“I'm here in Ames today to see an innovative small business that's delivering new technology to the war fighters and at the same time it's creating jobs for Ames,” Burke said.

The $5.2 million contract is expected to create at least 20 jobs at PowerFilm. The US Army expects to purchase $3 million worth of the thin flexible solar panel equipment which can be used for recharging a variety of electronics. Another $2.2 million has been given to the company so employees can research how to reduce the cost and increase the power output of its solar tent shades.

Burke was charged with finding ways to save energy and particularly fuel in combat when President Obama created her Pentagon position in 2010. Saving energy in turn improves war fighting capabilities and could save lives too.

The solar technology would reduce the amount the batteries soldiers carry on their backs and cumulatively reduces the number of cargo convoys necessary.

“The Army has been telling us that a solider on a three day mission typically may be carrying 18 pounds of batteries on his back and thousands of soldiers have been wounded or killed moving fuel around the battlefield in Afghanistan and also in Iraq,” Burke said.

The panels recharge batteries that power radios, GPS devices, flashlights and night vision goggles reducing the number of batteries necessary.

The tent canopies PowerFilm is currently designing to be placed on top of military tents, reduce the need for cooling by about 25 percent and would obviously generate solar power, said Chad West, PowerFilm's Marketing Director.

West said the solar panel's composition is such that it can charge in low light conditions making them useable on a cloudy day and increasing the panels' charging window because they can be used much earlier and later in the day then some competitors' products.

Though war efforts might be winding down in Afghanistan, Burke said she sees a future need for the products as the military maintains its presence in the Mideast and increases forces in the Asia Pacific, where the US military is currently looking to expand.

“We have deployments all over the world and we can see technologies like this being used wherever military forces are whether it's in Africa, whether it's in Europe, or in the Asia Pacific which is where we are increasingly focusing,” Burke said.

Solar panels could also be used in remote locations during humanitarian aid missions and in the event of natural disasters and has been used in Haiti and Japan, company officials said.

Tarak Shah, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy, said the Department of Defense can have a presence in communities outside of bases and ROTC programs.

“We are creating jobs,” Shah said.

Commercial uses of the panels include recharging cell phone batteries, laptops and a number of other devices. A solar panel built to adhere to the tops of RVs could run small devices like refrigerators and radios. Smaller roof top panels increase the distance an electrically powered golf cart can travel by about 20 percent, West said.